Mixing In

Chu Qing's attention was originally focused on Chu Yunfei's grand banquet.

If that 'Itinerant Doctor' hadn't appeared, he would only need to send a message to Chu Yunfei.

But now that this variable had emerged, his objective had to change. He was just pondering this when he suddenly heard this news.

And the gossip had landed squarely on him.

"So, she actually said something like that?"

Chu Qing chuckled wryly.

Miss Wu's name was Wu Qianhuan, the only daughter of Heavenly Dance City's Lord, Wu Ganqi.

She was a favored daughter of heaven who had been pampered since childhood, and she was two years younger than Chu Qing.

Their relationship could be traced back a very long time... so long that Wu Qianhuan was running around with a bare bottom and pigtails, chasing after him through the streets, helping him cause trouble.

It was what people commonly called childhood sweethearts.

The Chu Family was the foremost family in Heavenly Dance City, and their fates were often intertwined with Wu Ganqi's.

After all, in this dog-eat-dog world of the martial arts community, if Wu Ganqi didn't have other support, how could he withstand the storms from all directions?

Therefore, the two families had always been on good terms.

Wu Qianhuan was two years younger than Chu Qing, and the little girl in his memory was quite annoying.

When she was little, she loved to follow him around; whatever he did, she would follow suit.

This made Chu Qing dislike her intensely, but he could never shake off this shadow.

Later, after she started practicing martial arts, Chu Qing disliked her even more.

Because her talent and comprehension were far superior to Chu Qing's, he could initially rely on having practiced for two more years than her to suppress her. But later, he couldn't suppress her anymore. When children fought, they didn't hold back, and Chu Qing was always beaten black and blue by her.

Even later... the two families arranged a marriage.

This marriage, in the eyes of the original owner, was not only incomprehensible but also a bolt from the blue.

But the current Chu Qing understood that Chu Yunfei's action was paving a smooth road for Chu Qing's future.

Chu Tian could inherit everything from the Chu Family; his future was already set.

Chu Fan had entered the Great Easy Sect, and with his talent, there was naturally no need to worry... only this youngest son, who was neither good at academics nor martial arts, had a worrying future.

When Chu Yunfei was alive, he could always be a prodigal son in the Chu Family.

But what would happen when the family business was handed over to Chu Tian?

Many things would change. Chu Tian would also start a family. How would the relationship between uncle and sister-in-law be?

If they weren't close and the sister-in-law constantly whispered in Chu Tian's ear, without the suppression of the old father, even if Chu Tian loved this younger brother dearly, over time, it would inevitably lead to friction.

Once Chu Tian became disgusted, Chu Qing's good days would be completely over.

To prevent this from happening, Chu Yunfei found another path for Chu Qing.

The fact that he could humble himself and ask Wu Ganqi for a marriage proposal was enough to show his careful planning.

This action would, firstly, strengthen the relationship between the two families. Secondly, Wu Qianhuan was, after all, Wu Ganqi's only daughter. After Wu Ganqi's death, wouldn't this vast Heavenly Dance City all belong to Wu Qianhuan?

As her husband, no matter how useless Chu Qing was, his future wouldn't be too bad.

Furthermore, Chu Qing had the Chu Family behind him.

Even if Wu Qianhuan disliked Chu Qing after marriage, she wouldn't dare go too far.

In the future, there was ultimately some hope.

The original owner didn't understand these things, so he was even more depressed, feeling that his father didn't understand his lofty ambitions, and he had the idea of leaving home.

Of course, how much of that was due to worrying about being constantly beaten down by that little girl after marrying Wu Qianhuan is up for debate.

In any case, the matter happened like this.

He just didn't expect that this matter seemed to have a considerable impact on Wu Qianhuan.

She even said something about being the shame of the Chu Clan and needing to remember it...

"That little girl couldn't be faking it, could she? Based on my memory of her, that girl is proud and arrogant, and she shouldn't approve of this marriage."

Chu Qing had already found out the information he wanted, so he casually left the tea money.

After walking out of the teahouse, he put the matter of Wu Qianhuan out of his mind.

He strolled along the main road, calculating his plan in his heart while buying a few fresh peaches from a roadside stall. He ate them while thinking:

"If it's him, I can basically guess what he's going to do tomorrow."

"It's just that the Mirror of Sin failed this time. The next attempt will probably be even harder to guard against... Who exactly is behind the desire for Chu Yunfei's death? Does the old man know?"

"It seems like there's quite a bit to do tomorrow."

"Hmm, Zhiwei Restaurant and Green Bamboo Pavilion will have many chefs and waiters going to the Chu Family's back kitchen tomorrow to help. The back kitchen is near the back courtyard, so maybe I can sneak in and do something."

With a plan in mind, his actions became even more unhurried.

He casually browsed a few shops, bought some things, and finally rented a room at the Eight Directions Inn.

That night passed without incident. The next day, before dawn, Chu Qing was already up.

He had changed into a set of night clothes.

Taking advantage of the pre-dawn darkness, he used the night as cover and left. In just a moment, he arrived at a small alley.

He heard footsteps one after another, and an urging voice said:

"Hurry, hurry! The Chu Family is hosting a banquet today, and the endless feast needs to be set up by daybreak.

"The Chu Family is famous. If we do this job well, everyone gets a reward. We can't be late."

They were people from Zhiwei Restaurant.

And there were quite a few of them. Besides the cooks, there were also many waiters.

Trailing behind the waiters were porters carrying shoulder poles.

Some of these porters were carrying firewood. The Chu Family was holding an endless feast for three days and three nights, so firewood was naturally essential.

Others were carrying wine. Zhiwei Restaurant's most famous fine wine was Immortal's Drunkenness.

It was a must-have for banquets in Heavenly Dance City, and the Chu Family had ordered a lot this time, hence the large number of porters.

This was within Chu Qing's expectations.

He quietly watched this group of people walk through the narrow alley. He tilted his body and swooped down from the top of the wall, like a wild goose soaring through the air. With a sudden turn, the momentum of his dive slowed, and he actually rose about half a foot into the air. His feet landed silently on the ground, perfectly positioned behind one of the porters.

He reached out and grabbed the porter's shoulder. Before the porter could react, he had already struck his acupoints and dragged him into the alley to the side.

He carefully set down the shoulder pole and the Immortal's Drunkenness inside.

Chu Qing worked quickly and skillfully, stripping the porter of his clothes. In the blink of an eye, he was wearing them himself.

Then he tied the porter's hands behind his back and stuffed something into his mouth.

The effectiveness of striking acupoints would gradually wear off. When the internal energy dissipated, the acupoints would naturally unlock.

This was another preparation Chu Qing made to prevent the porter from getting free too early.

After settling the man, Chu Qing tucked two taels of silver into his waistband.

After all, he had taken the man's shoulder pole and stolen his clothes, ruining his livelihood for the day.

He still needed to eat, so some compensation was necessary.

The reason he tucked it into the waistband was also to prevent someone from seeing the money and getting greedy, causing unnecessary trouble.

After doing all this, Chu Qing picked up the shoulder pole and slowly shuffled forward. He used his movement technique to silently catch up to the group ahead.

The entire process was smooth and seamless, and not a single person noticed anything amiss.